The Battle of Kindness
by Chae
Summary: When Ken has a dream that plagues his thoughts what will the outcome be? Can kindness win without hope? Find out here. Kenlei TaKari
1. Beginning

I don't own Digimon. I would love them for Christmas though... Especially Ken or Davis, hehe he.

This story might look familiar if any of you have been on for more than 3-ish years. I wrote this story years and years ago, but then I stopped writing. I thought the best way to get my creative juices flowing would be to revamp some of my old stuff, so that's what I did.

This story contains major spoilers for season 2 which shouldn't really matter, but I thought I'd throw that in there in case somebody hasn't seen it yet.

"Nooo!" Ken woke up screaming at the top of his lungs. "What's going on," he wondered to himself out loud as he looked over at his side where Wormmon was sleeping. Ken smiled. 'That digimon can sleep through anything,' he thought. 'Still, I wonder what's going on. It's been three years since we defeated Daemon.' Ken went to get a cup of warm milk to calm himself down. Thinking about his dream, he decided it would be best to call a meeting with the other Digidestined the next morning. He figured maybe they would be able to understand. Ken went back to bed, but his sleep was fitful.

"Good morning," Ken greeted the others the following day. "What's going on?"  
"I don't know, you're the one who called us remember?" Davis said, not at all happy about being woken up so early, and making no effort to hide it.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to wake you, I thought 8:00 in the morning would be OK," Ken said. "Um, well I have something to talk to you about, but I don't know where to start."  
Kari smiled at him, "Well, the beginning might work."

"Okay, here goes," Ken started. He paused, looked to his friends for support and continued, "Have I ever told you about how I was implanted with the dark spore?" The others shook their heads. Ken gulped and went on.

"Well it happened the first time I went into the Digital World. It was when I met Wormmon. Well, we where walking in the dessert when we where attacked by a digimon. Wormmon fought him off, but he was exhausted. I went over to him and asked him if he was okay. He said that it would take more than that to beat him and I was relieved. Knowing that he was ok, I stood up to make sure no other Digimon where going to attack. Suddenly I felt a sharp pain in my neck and I fell to the ground in agony. I don't remember what happened after that, but Wormmon says that it took me three weeks to heal and then I left the Digital World. The sharp pain I felt was the dark spore."

Ken paused at this point and looked as though he were trying to find the right words for whatever he had to say next.

"Ken?" Ken turned his head to the voice that had spoken and noticed the concern on Yolei's face. "Are you alright?"

"Uh, yeah, I guess so. It's just that I had a dream about all of this last night." Ken looked down before he continued. "Do you all remember the last thing that Daemon said before we pushed him into the dark ocean?"

The Digidestined shuddered as the scene flashed through all their minds simultaneously.

_Three years ago was the time Daemon had kidnapped Ken. Luckily for Ken, Davis had come to the rescue. In the fight that ensued, Ken had been forced to confront his fears about the dark ocean so he could open a porthole to that dimension. Just sending Daemon back to the Digital World would not work because he had been the one to open the gate to get to the real world, so Ken had no choice. But just as he was being pushed through the Dark Gate, Daemon had made one final threat. All of the Digidestined had this threat scorched into their memories. His words had been, "Very impressive, my little Digidestined. You may think you've seen the last of me, but I'll be back."_

Just the memory of it sent chills through Yolei's spine and she involuntarily shuddered.

"Yes, I remember, but what does that have to do with your dream?"

"Well," Ken began tentatively. "At the end of my dream, I heard those words loud and clear. I think Daemon is trying to find a way to make good on his threat."

The Digidestined were silent. The Digimon were silent. None of them particularly wanted to have to fight Daemon again. If he truly could find a way out of the dark dimension, they knew of no way to defeat him. Even though all of their Digimon could now digivolve into ultimate, there was no way to DNA digivolve left. It had been the DNA digivolving which allowed them to send Daemon to the Dark Ocean to begin with.

"Well, I'm not gonna stand around here doing nothing, lets go to the Digital World!" Davis's suggestion made everyone jump.

"You're right! We can't let the powers of evil scare us." TK looked at each one of them in turn and then continued, "We're gonna have to face this some time, let's do this now!"

Yolei stood up, put her digivice to the computer screen across from Ken's bed and said the words, "Digi-port, open!"

Each one was instantly transported to the Digital World. With maturity had come some outward changes for the Digidestined in the Digital World. No longer did Davis look like a fighter pilot on safari, nor did any of the others have the same out fits they had worn in the past. Davis now looked like a goalie with a flame printed jersey. Kari wore a white camisole with a pair of Capri jeans and white strapped sandals. Tk looked like he just got through doing a gig with his band – tight black shirt T-shirt with a pair of loose fitting dark gray pants, and a pair of Doc Martins. Yolei still had a hat on, but this time it was one like Tk _used _to wear. She was also wearing a knee length skirt and light colored halter top. Ken was the perhaps the one who changed the most. He no longer wore all gray down to his shoes. He now wore a pair of stone washed jeans, royal blue button-down shirt and tennis shoes. He also had a floor length black trench coat. Cody had not been able to come that day because he had a Saturday computer class. His usual garb, though, had changed to a gi.

When the arrived in the Digital World, everything looked just as peaceful as they remembered. All of them were relieved, but they decided to check it out over the next week any way, just to be on the safe side. When nothing new happened, they thought maybe Ken's nightmare had been just that – a bad nightmare. Ken reluctantly agreed. But something in his mind wouldn't quite allow him to believe it. However, since there was nothing else to go on, he tried to put it out of his mind.

The trouble began about three months later, during the summer. The weather had been beautiful, so the Digidestined decided to go to the Digital World for a picnic on the beach. The plans were made and everybody was looking forward to the trip. For Davis and Yolei the trip was more than just recreational. Neither knew the other noticed, but both were worried about Ken.

Since his dream, Ken had been slowly withdrawing himself from most of his usual activities – even getting together with the others. At first they both thought nothing of it, but then he began to lose his appetite and his weight dropped. Davis and Yolei understood it was probably because he was still worried over his dream. Unfortunately no amount of coaxing had done either of them any good – Ken refused to say anything on the subject.

For the picnic, Yolei, as usual brought food from her parents' store, Davis brought the wood, and Kari brought roasters. While Tk set up the fire Ken helped Cody lay out the blanket. As they were waiting for the fire to become hot enough to cook on the group began talking about old times. Ken, who had been feeling edgy the whole time, quietly slipped away to be by himself for a while.

He had been walking for about fifteen minutes when he got a sharp pain in his neck. He fell to his knees in agony, and then tried to stand up again, but the pain was too unbearable. He got severely dizzy and passed out.

Meanwhile, the group noticed that Ken was gone. Davis, who was a little worried, suggested they go look for him. He gave the excuse that the fire would be ready soon and he didn't want Ken to miss lunch. He didn't want to worry the others until he knew why he was feeling uneasy. They all agreed to this and began looking for him, when twenty minutes passed and they couldn't find any sign of him the others began to worry too. Yolei suggested they split up and widen the search. They did this and each Digidestined and their respective digi-partner went on the search. Wormmon went back to the blanket in case Ken got back before the rest of them.

Davis noticed everyone's calls getting farther away when he stumbled over the passed out Ken.

"Ken, wake up," Davis shook him, but nothing happened. He continued trying to wake him up but found that he couldn't. Davis got worried and messaged each of the others to go back to the blanket right away. Davis knelt down and picked up Ken. Davis figured Ken wouldn't be heavy, but what he found was worse than he thought. To him it seemed as though Ken weighed almost nothing. Deciding that was something best worried about after he got Ken awake, Davis set out to meet the others.

When Davis got to the blanket, the others hadn't yet arrived. Wormmon however saw the unconscious Ken in Davis's arms and began to worry.

"Davis, what's wrong?" Davis just took Ken over to the blanket and laid him down.  
"Davis, I asked what's wrong," Still Davis ignored the question. Instead he got some cold water from the ice chest and soaked his towel to drape over Ken's head.

"Davis answer me! What is wrong with Ken!" This time Wormmon demanded an answer and for effect he got right in Davis's face. Wormmon noticed the tired look in his eyes and began to panic.

"Huh? Oh I'm sorry Wormmon; it's just that I don't know what happened. I found him like this." There was a pause for a few seconds as Davis debated whether or not to tell Wormmon what was happening. He realized that since Wormmon was Ken's partner, he had a right to know.

"He won't wake up. I tried, but he won't wake up. And he was so light. I am very worried about him, but don't tell the others. I think maybe-" But his last statement was cut short as Yolei screamed.

"Ken," she looked at Davis. "Davis what's wrong with Ken?"

"I don't know."

"What do you mean you don't know?" Yolei was on the verge of tears. But Davis didn't answer, knowing it was a rhetorical question.

In a few minutes all of the Digidestined where crowded around Ken. Each had taken a turn trying to wake him up. No one succeeded.

Suddenly Ken began to moan and his body twitched. All of the children watched, feeling totally helpless. Ken's eyes opened and it was as if he was staring at something beyond them. His eyes glazed over and he yelled a single word in what sounded like terror.

"Daemon." One word and the hearts of all the Digidestined seemed to stop. Then Ken began flailing his arms as though there was a swarm of bees all around him. Davis being the closest got hit in the stomach, getting his wind knocked out. Then the scariest thing of all, Ken went limp and began to float, surrounded in a dark mist. Kari clutched her head and began to scream. As she did this a light shot out of her digivice and encased Ken and the mist. The darkness began to dissipate and Ken returned to the ground panting and sweating. Yolei ran to him and began to cry uncontrollably. She knelt down next to him.

"Ken, please wake up, please." As she said this one final tear escaped her eye and splashed on Ken's face. Ken's eyes fluttered open.

"What happened to me?" His question was met only by the blank stares of his friends.

Davis is the first to break the silence, "We were hoping you could tell us that."

He told Ken the story of all that happened. When he finished he looked at Ken whose face went ashen.

"So it was real." He looked at the faces of his friends and saw their concern.

Yolei, still holding him on her lap asked the question they were all thinking, "What was real?"

Ken slowly sat up, but continued to hold Yolei's hand. Yolei noticed how light his grip was and gave him a little squeeze she meant to be reassuring. Ken winced. So she lightly held his hand.

"I had another dream," he said it flatly. He wasn't sure if the others were going to take to seriously this time. He saw from the looks on their faces that they definitely were. Encouraged, he continued.

"Daemon was there. I was in the Dark Ocean." Kari gasped and excused herself. Ken went on, "He told me that he had come to take what was his. I told him to take a hike. He didn't like that very much. "

"Idiot," Yolei said quietly.

Ken went on as if he hadn't heard her. "He came at me, I defended myself the best I could. He told me that unless the dark spore started growing again, the only way to remove it was to kill me. That was when he lifted me up in the air. It felt like there was a hand around my neck, but no one was touching me. Then, I saw a light and the next thing I knew I was here, waking up." Ken looked down. He didn't want to know what the others must be thinking. It had to be the same thing he himself was thinking. He was a coward. He knew it. They must be thinking it.

To his surprise he found Yolei hugging him. It was a great comfort to know that she still cared, even if he was a coward.

They sat in silence for a while and Ken began to rub his neck.

"Ken, what's wrong?" Wormmon asked, worried.

"Just before I passed out I had a sharp pain in my neck. It's not as bad, but it still hurts. Guys, I'm really tired, I've gotta go home and take a nap."

"You're not going alone! What if it happens again? We have to be there." Yolei began crying again. She let go of him and turned away. "I'm sorry, but I can't help it, I'm worried."

Ken blushed.

"She's right, though. You may need our help," Davis stated.

End chapter 1

So what did you all think? Please give me comments .. I'm new at this so I would love input!


	2. Gone

Hi guys and gals, thanks for the review!

I'm sorry if my descriptions are short. I'll work on it, I promise! I'm just used to writing for the school paper and our advisor is always saying to get rid of the "unnecessary words."

On with the story…

Review:

"You're not going alone! What if it happens again? We have to be there." Yolei began crying again. She let go of him and turned away. "I'm sorry, but I can't help it, I'm worried."  
Ken blushed.   
"She's right, though. You may need our help," Davis stated.

Now:   
It was decided, and so when they got back to the real world Ken called his mom to let her know that they would be having guests.  
Mrs. Ichijouji had been really worried about her son because of the changes she'd seen in his demeanor and physical appearance. So when the group arrived she already had home baked desserts sitting on the table to welcome them.

When they got to Ken's house, they went to his room. Ken laid down on his bed and in minutes he was fast asleep. Mrs. Ichijouji brought in the desserts and saw her son asleep on his bed.  
"Did something happen to Ken?" When nobody answered her, she decided to try again.

"Please tell me, Ken already told me about the Digital World. I figured out that you all must be -- I think Ken called it -- Digidestined. The 'stuffed animals' you bring over every time you come kind of give it away. So please, tell me what happened to my son." As she finished Mrs. Ichijouji began to cry softly, her head resting in her hands.  
Ken, who had been woken up by his mother's frantic words, sat up. He struggled to get out of bed and walk over to his mother. Gently he placed his arm on her shoulder. After she looked up he smiled softly down at her.  
"I'll tell you everything, but you have to try to trust me. What I'm going to say isn't going to be easy to hear."  
"I will."  
Ken recanted the whole story, starting from his dream three months prior. When he was finished, his mother reached up and pulled him down to her level and just held him for a good long time.  
"Mrs. Ichijouji, I think it would be best if we took turns spending the night, in case something happens again. Do you mind?" Davis inquired.  
"Of course not," she answered lifting her head up from Ken's shoulder to glance at Davis. Then she looked back at Ken. "Ken, honey, I have to ask you another question."  
"What is it?" Ken asked, even though he felt he probably already knew what she wanted to know.

"Well, it's just that you look so thin and pale lately." Mrs. Ichijouji hesitated before continuing. "It's really got me worried. What is it? What's wrong?"

Ken knew it would do no good to lie, but he didn't want to make his mother suffer even more. He thought for a moment and then realized she would see through anything but the truth. He also noticed the faces of his friends and saw that they too had the same concern.  
"I worry too much, I guess." Then he said, more quietly, "And I guess I just don't feel hungry much anymore." Ken looked down not wanting to make eye contact with anyone. "I'm sorry, I am so sorry. I wish I could be stronger, but I know I'm a coward, I'm just so afraid. I don't want to die, but I know I'm just a burden to you all." Ken choked back the tears that threatened to fall.

Yolei jumped up from the chair she had been sitting on, causing it to fall over.  
"How dare you say that?" Yolei wasn't really angry but her words sounded like it anyway. She walked over to the bed where Ken was sitting and slapped him, albeit not very hard. Then she knelt down and buried her face in his lap. "I'm sorry, Ken. It's just that you are strong, you have to know that. Oh, Ken." Then Yolei wept.  
Ken reached down and pulled her up and looked deeply into her eyes. "I'm sorry, I will be strong, and I will do my best to stay strong for all of you." He pulled her into an embrace and then realized everyone, including his mother, was in the room. Yolei realized it too. Both pulled away and started blushing.  
Just then the clock on the wall chimed eight times. All the kids except Davis, who took the first watch, went home.  
Later that night after both boys had gone to bed, Ken rolled over to look at Davis.

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"Davis, are you awake?"  
"Yeah," Davis said in a sleepy voice.  
"Can I talk to you about something?"

"Sure." Davis sat up to look at Ken who was still lying on his bed.  
"You obviously know I told my parents about the digital world, right?"  
"Mh Hmm"  
"Well, the thing is, I never told them about the digimon emperor."  
"What? Why not?"  
Ken sat up. He remained silent for a while as he formulated his answer.

"I didn't want to rehash it then, it hurt too bad, still does sometimes. Do you think I should tell them now, or is it too late?"

It was Davis' turn at silence as he pondered the question.

"No, I don't think it's too late, but the longer you wait the harder it will be, on them _and_ you."  
"Okay, I'll think about it. Thanks Davis."

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The next day when Ken woke up Davis was still asleep so he decided to take a shower and get cleaned up. When he was getting dressed, he noticed that he had forgotten his shirt in the bedroom. He looked at the deep bruises on his body in the mirror. He thought how glad he was the Davis was still asleep. Then he walked into the bedroom.

Davis was no longer asleep.  
"Good morning Ke—" Davis let out a low whistle. "Man, he really did a number on you, didn't he?" His words were soft, and Ken could tell he was worried.  
"It's not really that bad," he said as he pulled his shirt on quickly and flipped on the TV. Both boys pretended to watch TV until the rest of the group arrived.  
When they got there, they decided to visit the digital world to check on things. Nothing appeared to be out of place. Kari still had a feeling something wasn't quite right and TK agreed. Ken wasn't sure what to feel, but he knew something was going on.  
Wormmon looked up at Ken to see him rubbing his neck for the umpteenth time.

"Ken, what's wrong with your neck," he asked.

"Nothing really," Ken said with a shrug. "It just feels a little soar. I probably slept wrong. Or maybe I didn't get enough sleep."

Davis frowned, "That's true. He was up way before me."  
Cody saw the perfect opportunity.

"That's not so surprising," he said.  
"What's that suppose to mean?"  
"I'd say it's pretty obvious."  
The argument they started lasted a full three minutes and when they were finished everyone was laughing. Ken was glad to have everyone's focus off of him. The rest of the day passed without incident and they decided to go home early.

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That night it was TK's turn to stay with Ken. Ken went to sleep right after dinner and TK stayed in the living room chatting with the elder Ichijoujis.

Ken's dad asked TK how he had met his son. TK said that they met in the Digital World, but that they probably already knew that. Then he made a comment on how their son wasn't so nice back then.

Ken's father looked at TK in shock.

"What in the world are you talking about," he asked.

TK looked at him, puzzled. 'Do they not know,' he thought.

"How much has Ken told you about the Digital World?"

"He told us all about the Digimon and your final battle."

"Did he mention anything about the Digimon Emperor?"

TK could tell by the quizzical expression on Mr. Ichijouji's face that Ken hadn't mentioned it. He was proven correct by the elder Ichijouji's next sentence.

"No, that doesn't ring any bells."

"Oh. Well, I guess that's something you should talk to him about then," TK suggested. "I'm getting tired; I think I'll go to bed now. Good night Mr. and Mrs. Ichijouji."

TK hurried off to Ken's room and shut the door. Before he climbed in his sleeping bag, he looked at his friend.

'Why didn't you tell them Ken?'  
The next morning TK woke up first. He looked over and noticed that Ken looked a little pale. TK was worried but Ken woke up a few minutes later. After both boys had showered, TK told Ken about his conversation the night before with his parents.

"What did they say," Ken asked, sitting down heavily on his bed.

"I think it would be better if you talked to them."  
Ken only looked apprehensive.

"I don't know if I can do this," he said. "There's so much to say. What if they don't understand? What if they're disappointed?"

"It'll turn out alright."

"Are you sure?"

Just then the rest of the group arrived and were ushered in to Ken's room by his mother.

After his mom left, Ken told the others they were going to have to go to the digital world without him.

In the Digital World, all was not well. Kari was the first to notice it.   
"All the colors are fading, it's seems as though this world is dying," she said.  
The group stared at her.

"What do you mean," Tk asked her.

But just as she was about to answer TK yelled. Faster than any of the others could reach out to him, he was gone. The ground swallowed him up. Patamon freaked out. All of the Digidestined started calling to him, but there was no answer.


	3. Lost Hope

Last time:

But just as she was about to answer TK yelled. Faster than any of the others could reach out to him, he was gone. The ground swallowed him up. Patamon freaked out. All of the Digidestined started calling to him, but there was no answer.

-----------------------------------------------------

"This story isn't going to make you happy," Ken began. "It's not something I'm proud of either. I just hope you can understand."

With that Ken began his tale of the Digimon Emperor, and what he learned later, it _truly_ meant to be Digidestined.

-----------------------------------------------------

Back in the Digital World, Patamon's first response was to Digivolve, but even as he began he knew it would be for nothing. The digivolution lacked the power of hope. For some reason TK's digivice couldn't find the hope of his heart. As the reality of what that most likely meant dawned on the Digidestined, they felt shock. Yolei hugged Kari as they cried. Cody sank to his knees in disbelief. Davis went numb, as he felt that he had failed his team.

-----------------------------------------------------

As Ken finished his tale, his eyes were focused only on his hands which were balled into fists on his thighs. He felt weak to the point of nausea as he fought his old demons one more time. And he was afraid, he admitted at that moment to himself, afraid that his family really wouldn't love him anymore. There was a moment of silence, until Mrs. Ichijouji spoke.

"Oh Ken, it's all right," she said as tears rolled down her face.

Then did Ken allow his eyes to rise. As he looked at his mother, he saw her love shining through her eyes, just as it always had. He felt hope.

"We do understand son," his dad said in turn, as he too, looked at his son. "But I hope you realize that there is no way we could think any less of you for this. You made a mistake, but you are our son and we love you."

The smile that split Ken's face was as bright as the relief in his heart as looked back at his parents with gratefulness. He stood to meet their waiting arms. Then he stopped. His parents looked at him, confused.

He tried to say something to them, but found his voice, and muscle control sorely lacking. Unexplainable fear took hold of him and unintelligible sounds were all that escaped his mouth. Then his knees became too weak to support him and he fell to the ground, shaking all over.

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TK awoke to find himself in a place that seemed vaguely familiar. A thought struck, but it wasn't possible, was it? He had never been there before, why now? But no matter how he tried to deny it, he knew it was true. He was at the Dark Ocean.

What had happened was this: when Kari's light broke through to Ken it had cut a partial rift in the dimensions. So that now Daemon had the power to bring people to the dark ocean, while still not being able to come out himself. Of course TK didn't know this, so he was perplexed, to say the least, as he noticed that not only was he in the Dark Dimension, but was also bound hand and foot, with Daemon standing next to him.

'Well that can't be good,' thought TK, in a style more reminiscent of his older brother. He tried calling out to Patamon, but his voice was weak, and, apparently, Patamon was not around.

Daemon snickered, "You have no chance of escaping, give up boy."

"How did I get here," TK asked. 'Well at least that didn't come out quite as wimpy as before,' he thought.

Another thought dawned on him, "What do you want with me?"

"If I were you I would not be in such a hurry to find that out," Daemon spit out cruelly. Then he sneered. "For when I tell you, that will be the time you have out lived your usefulness."

TK shuddered. A black mist from Daemon's body enshrouded TK and he passed out. In his sleep he dreamt of the others.

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Davis was the first to find his voice, "C'mon guys. We have to go tell Ken and Matt what happened."

Kari looked at him, "What exactly did happen?"

Davis said, tiredly, "It can't be good."

Kari tried to fight her tears in vain. "No...no," was all she said.

"Davis is right, they have to know." Cody said flatly.

With that they began the trek back to the real world and their arduous task.

When the got back, Ken's bedroom door was slightly open. Ken's parents were apparently in a panic about something. The same thought went through all of their minds at the same time.

"Not him too," Kari said it for all of them. They raced through the door. When they entered the living room they were relieved by the fact that Ken was, at least, still there.

"Oh no, the darkness," Kari said, as she sank to her knees. "It's surrounding him."

Yolei ran to his side and knelt next to him.

"Please Ken. Snap out of it," she begged him. "We need you right now, now more than ever." She reached down and held tightly onto him, as if her physical presence would make him stop shaking. It worked, Ken quieted down, though he was in a trance like state, eyes refusing to focus on anything.

"When did this happen," Davis asked Ken's parents.

His father answered, "It was about twenty-five minutes ago."

Davis gave a start, "Twenty-five minutes? That would be about the time that TK..."

All of the digidestined turned their heads toward Davis, as he lowered his eyes. He jerked his eyes back up however when Ken began to speak. Two words sounded out of his mouth, the two words that no one wanted to be reminded of at that moment.

"No hope."

Ken then fell to the floor curled up in the fetal position. His dad went over to him and picked him up. After laying him on the couch, the rest of the group, parents included sat around him, waiting for him to come back to reality. Yolei went right next to him and laid her head on his hand praying for him to wake up.

Davis was too shocked to say anything. So he was left with his thoughts. And they were anything but pretty. Two of his team down, and nothing he could do about it. 'I am sorry Tai, some leader I turned out to be."

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When TK woke up, he found that he was no longer bound. That fact shocked him. 'Okay, that makes no sense,' he thought. 'Why would Daemon release me?' He realized, somewhat bitterly, that it really didn't matter anyway. If Patamon couldn't even hear him, there really was no escape. After shaking off his self pity, he sat up and noticed that there was a cave not far from him. He decided exploring would be better than sitting there doing nothing.

The further into the cave he went, the less he could see and soon he was feeling along the walls just to be able to walk without falling. After a few minutes, he saw a light at the far end of the tunnel he was in. He hoped it to be another way out and he hoped it would lead to a better place then the one he came from. 'Fat chance,' he thought, again in Matt's voice. And for some reason, that amused him.

About half way to the light he heard what sounded like Ken's voice coming from the far end. At that, TK forgot to be cautious and ran towards the sound. When he arrived, he saw that he was not out side, quite the contrary.

He had entered a room. In the center of the room there was what appeared to be a pool floating in mid air. In the pool was Ken's apartment. He saw Ken lying on his couch with the others gathered around him. As he watched he understood that something was seriously wrong with Ken, which explained why the others were not out looking for _him_, which he had assumed they would be. He looked at each one of them one at a time. Davis looked agitated, Yolei and Cody looked shell shocked, Ken's parents were obviously worried, Kari was pale and shaking, all of the Digimon were silent. But the one that affected him the most was Patamon.

Patamon just sat there. He wasn't looking at Ken, he wasn't flying around like he would normally be doing, he was just sitting there with the most mournful look TK had ever seen on his face. TK's heart ached to be able to do something for him, but there was nothing he could do. A voice startled him out of his thoughts. It was Daemon.

"Well, well, well, my little Digidestined. Your friends are in trouble, and it's entirely your fault. Listen well, for the truth shall be revealed."

TK tried his best to ignore Daemon's cutting remarks, but the next words he heard confirmed the truth in them.

"We can't just stand around here and do nothing," Davis addressed the group, looking for all the world back to his normally courageous self. "Are we really going to give up?"

"TK is gone, Davis," Yolei nearly screamed out. Something in her tone of voice shook TK more than he cared admit, even to himself. "Ken is in big trouble. What are we suppose to do, huh," Yolei was on the verge of losing it.

"That's exactly why we can't give up! We can't give up _our_ hope or else TK's death means nothing." At which point TK was on the verge of losing it. "Think about it, his crest is- was the crest of hope. He _never_ lost hope, and neither can we!"

Kari stood up. "Davis is right," she said. "There has got to be a way to wake Ken up."

"But you and I both know Ken will never wake up. He's lost all hope, because you aren't there." This last sentiment was Daemon's.

With that the pool clouded over. TK didn't really notice it. He knew now that everyone thought he was dead. No one would come looking for him. He thought of his parents and of his brother. They would suffer the most, especially Matt. Daemon was right, he was making the people he cared most about suffer and there was nothing he could do about it.

Okay…. I know it's been a ridiculously long time since I updated. I am sorry about that. Honestly, I forgot that I had been rewriting this story…. Thank you to Shizuka for commenting and making me want to stick it out and finish it up… ..


	4. Faith

LAST TIME:

Daemon was right, he was making the people he cared most about suffer and there was nothing he could do about it.

---------------------------------------

"… Stand around here… do nothing…" Somehow that just didn't sound right, even to his befuddled mind. Wasn't that Courage? "… Really… give up?" That was better, or so he thought -- although, thinking didn't seem to be his strong suit at the time. 'Wonder what's going on,' went through his mind, though the thought was a bit detached. Then a jolt of lucidity seized him as he heard the panic in his partially secret crushes voice. "… Gone! … Ken is in big trouble…" At that point Ken tried focusing as best he could. 'No Yolei, I'm fine,' he thought frantically.

Ken heard no more of the conversation so focused was he in the terror he heard in Yolei's voice and on his desire to do something about it. It took just a minute longer before he was able to make his body follow his command. And first on his order of business was to sit up.

Unfortunately, he was only able to make it to an elbow before he fell back down, but it was enough to alert Yolei, who still held fast to his hand.

"Oh, thank God," Yolei whispered.

"Ken, are you alright," Davis asked his best friend in a small voice. The others all realized at that moment how truly scared Davis must have been. After all, Davis and quiet usually went together about as wall as chocolate ice cream and dill pickles. "What happened?"

Ken decided to ignore the question, since he didn't really have a good answer anyway. Instead he looked at each of them and then said in a quiet voice, "I already know about TK. I could feel the crest of hope disappear. I think Daemon was behind it. I think that the dark spore wasn't strong enough when he first tried to take it from me, so he's trying to make it grow again," he said in a rush.

The heads of the Digidestined shot up in shock.

Ken noticed the others looking at him. "You don't need to worry about me," he said. "I have no desire to go back to evil. But I think there might be another way for the dark spore to grow. None of us can give up hope. I think despair will cause it to come back to life. I just don't know how I can help but despair when one of my friends died because of me." Ken finally managed the strength to sit up and put his head in his hands. Yolei sat next to him. Ken lifted his head just a little, "What are we gonna tell his family?"

A thought suddenly occurred to Davis.

"Wait a second, how do we know TK's really dead," he asked. "I know Patamon couldn't digivolve, but what if TK's digivice is being blocked somehow? Even it isn't likely it is possible. We can't just give up, right Ken," Davis asked him.

Ken looked up directly into the eyes of his friend and Davis could tell he was searching for an answer to a question only he knew. When Ken saw that Davis was serious, Ken thought he might actually be right.

"Okay," Ken said with some hope.

"What should we do," Kari asked, in a strained voice. "We still have to tell his family something. Maybe we should talk to Matt first?" It was obvious from the tone of her voice that she was trying hard to believe in Davis' statement, and failing miserably. "He can decide exactly what to tell his parents."

----------------------

Thirty minutes later Matt and Tai arrived at Ken's house, both with some trepidation. The fact that they arrived together shocked a couple of the Digidestined who happened to know that Tai was supposed to be at work right then. It turned out that Matt had suddenly felt the need to have a friend around and had gone to the toy store Tai where was currently working. He had been there when he received the call on his cell phone. All he had been told was that he was needed. But he knew, somewhere in the pit of his stomach, he _knew_ that it had something to do with his brother. Tai took one look at his friend and told his boss he needed to take some personal time. Luckily for him, his boss, who knew Tai and his spectacular work ethic, told him to go. Not that he wouldn't have gone anyway. He had a feeling that whatever happened was not going to be good, and _he_ knew that his best friend was going to need him there.

When the whole story had been told Tai was eternally grateful for his decision to join Matt; especially after noticing the look on the blonde's face. It broke his heart to see his best friend so completely devastated. But, looking over at Kari, he knew that he would have the same reaction. He didn't know what to say, but still tried to come up with something to ease the suffering of the original bearer of friendship. There was something niggling at the back of his mind, but he was too distracted to listen to wisdom in it.

Matt, for his part, almost said nothing at all. He tried not to, knowing that your voice tends to betray how you feel. And right at that moment his feelings were all over the scale. Thoughts of his younger brother danced through his head like a movie. He remembered their trip to the digital world. He thought of the talks he and his brother had about the bearer of light and what TK had felt for her. He remembered their arguments too, and was grateful they had made the bond they shared grow stronger. Remembering all of this, he knew if he said anything at all his innermost feelings would be laid bare. But he was so overwhelmed by the despair he felt for his only brother that one word escaped his lips anyway, "TK."

Suddenly it was as though a light went on in Tai's mind. Of course, it made _perfect _sense.

"Matt, I think TK is all right." He noticed the look of incredulity everyone was giving him, but chose to ignore it.

"Think about it," he continued. "Why would Daemon keep TK's body?" At that word Matt cringed. Tai noticed it and told himself he needed to try to choose his words more carefully, but pressed on. He was seriously hoping to erase some of the distress that appeared to have taken permanent residence in and on his best friend. "What good would it do him? It gives us a reason to _hope_. If he was truly gone, wouldn't it make sense to make sure we knew it?"

Matt looked at Tai with hopeful eyes, "I hope you're right."

"I'm sure I am," he replied with a cheeky grin.

Davis sat listening to the conversation. He had hardly dared hope that he was right about TK being alright. He mainly said it to give his team a reason to go on, a reason to hope. He honestly believed that he had failed and was mostly trying to make things right – or as right as he figured was possible given the circumstances. Sure he thought it was possible, but to actually have faith in so minuscule a possibility? That was another story entirely. Now though…

"You know, that makes sense," he said – more to himself that anyone else.

----------------------

TK was not having a good time. He couldn't believe everyone thought he was dead. He couldn't believe his parents would soon. He didn't want to think about what his brother would say. TK fought the lump in his throat and the tears that were stinging the back of eyes. Then he remembered Daemon was still standing in front of him. TK wondered briefly why Daemon didn't just kill him, and get it over with. Everyone already thought he was dead anyway. Daemon looked down at him and raised his hands menacingly. Nothing was making sense to TK at this time so he didn't even try to defend himself. TK felt pain shoot through his entire body. So badly he didn't think he could stand it. Then his world went mercifully black.

----------------------

"I guess I should just tell our parents the basics, until we know something for sure," was Matt's suggestion after taking time to think over Tai's statement. "This is not going to be easy," he continued grimly.

"Would you like some company?"

"Thanks Tai, I could use some."

The two of them left and the rest of the Chosen sat in the living room of Ken's apartment, discussing what they should do next. Ken, who was still out of sorts and ridiculously tired, wanted to lie back down on the couch. His current predicament was that Yolei was sitting on the couch near the arm. If he tried lying down, his head or his feet would end up directly in her lap. Which he personally wouldn't mind, but would she? He wasn't so sure. Luckily for him, Yolei seemed to be in rare form that day and noticed, with compassion, his predicament. So, instead of drawing attention to the two of them, she simply smiled and offered her lap to him with a sweep of her hand and a nod of encouragement.

She was elated when he took her offer, happy that she could offer some solace for Ken.

Ken's mom brought in some tea and homemade cookies. The group ate and talked. All except for Patamon who didn't seem to have any appetite – for either, as all he did was sit in the corner. Gatomon noticed and went to sit next to him. The discussion, unfortunately, seemed empty, until Mrs. Ichijouji suggested they go into the Digital World and see if any one knew anything about Daemon, or Daemon's henchmen. So, with nothing else to go on and no more leads, it was decided. It was really their only choice. Kari suggested that they call Matt and see if he wanted to go.

As they left, Matt called his mom and told her to meet him at his dad's house as soon as possible. So by the time the two boys arrived both parents were already there. The second he walked through the door Matt's mom noticed his serious expression. A terrible fear clutched her heart, and she knew what was wrong. She didn't know how, but she _knew_ it had to do with her youngest son.

"Where's TK," she asked.

Matt's face contorted for just a second as he had to fight tears and then he began his story.

Tai decided that it would be better if he wasn't in the room and excused himself saying he needed some water. A half an hour later when the phone rang and nobody answered it Tai called out that he would get it. It was Kari. She told him of their plan to go to the Digital World to see if anyone had seen or heard anything about Daemon. Tai thought it was as good and idea as any, seeing as how they didn't really have a clue as to what was really going on – or more precisely how and why. He told her they would be there within half an hour. Tai didn't want to intrude on the broken family as it was receiving more bad news, but he needed to tell Matt what was going on, as Tai walked back into the room he saw Matt's mother on her knees with his father trying awkwardly to comfort her. Matt was standing off to the side looking miserable. Tai walked over to Matt and squeezed his shoulder.

"It's going to be alright," he whispered to his friend. "It always has been before. We are the Digidestined. We _can _handle it."

Matt looked at him with a small ray of hope. He was lucky to have a friend like Tai.

Seeing his words had some effect, Tai told Matt about what the rest of the Digidestined were planning. Looking at his parents firmed Matt's resolve and he was heading to the door almost before Tai noticed he was gone.

"You coming," he shot back through the door as Tai raced to catch up.

----------------------

It didn't take long before Matt and Tai were again at Ken's house. This time though, Matt's energy was giving all the rest of them more hope than they'd had in a while. Even Kari could almost smile.

With a quick "Be _careful_" from Ken's mom the group was once again in the Digital World. After a conference between Tai, Davis and Matt, it was decided that the group would split into two to cover more ground. Plus no one was sure how much time they had. Nobody knew why, but there seemed to be a sense of urgency this time around. So after the split, Tai's group, which consisted of Tai himself, Matt and Cody, began searching the area immediately around where TK had disappeared just hours before. Davis' group however was searching the nearby forests.

Tai's group had been searching for an hour. He noticed that the more time it took the more edgy Matt was becoming. Not that he blamed him, but he wished there was something he could do or say that would help the blonde. But years of friendship had taught him that sometimes Matt just needed to be left undisturbed, so he said nothing but a quick prayer for TK's safety.

Patamon, meanwhile, had been flying, trying to spot clues that would be missed from the ground. When he noticed something shining on the ground, he swooped down and found a ring he recognized as TK's. He called the others over and they all began to search that area.

Matt stared down at the ring that he now held in his hand and his worry for his brother hit overdrive. The ring Patamon found was one he had given to him two years ago for his birthday. It had never left his finger since.

------------------------- 

Davis was working _very _hard not to fail his team again. One of the things he realized was that keeping their spirits high would be necessary. Especially Kari's. Davis knew full well where her heart lied, and while it had hurt at first, he let go of her. Not that he'd had any hold over her to begin with. More like he'd let go his feelings of jealousy and anger and resentment toward TK. Not that he didn't still fight with the fisherman hat wearing teen, but that was mostly in fun. Anyway, all that aside, he knew enough to know that Hope and Light fed off of each other, so he knew he needed to be there for Kari in any way she needed him.

Davis's group hadn't been searching long when they found themselves getting very thickly entangled in the forest. All at once the ground started shaking. Before any of them could react they were all thrown into the air. They landed hard and looked up to see that they were surrounded by a swarm of Flymon. Kari sent out an SOS to Tai.

-----------------------

Back at the Dark Ocean TK came slowly back to himself. Daemon was no where around, and he was no longer in the cave.

"Okay, this is getting ridiculous," he said out loud to himself.

No matter how hard he tried, TK could not remember how he'd gotten outside. Not that it mattered anyway.

"Argh."

As his thoughts became more coherent, even if his memory did remain a little shoddy, TK remembered what had happened in that cave. His friends all thought he was dead. His Kari – his little light – thought he was dead and he'd never told her how he felt. He felt his heart wrench at the thought. Even his own brother would soon believe that he would never see TK again, his big brother who had always been there whenever he'd needed him. And there was nothing he could do to help. TK's heart wrenched yet again. He started to think of his family. He wondered if his friends had told them yet, what they had told them. And now he knew that nobody would come looking for him, why should they? He was dead after all. This sucked.

He shook his head, an outward sign of what he was thinking. He had to try to find a way to help himself. A thought struck him and he put his hand to his side...

Panic, it wasn't there, his digivice was not there. He decided that he would have to search for it. He got up and began.

-----------------------

Davis, Kari, Yolei, and Ken were in trouble. Each of their Digimon had digivolved, but four against 40 were not great odds. The battle raged, but while they were able to defend themselves and the children, the Digimon couldn't make a dent in the defenses of the Flymon army.

'Oh Tai,' thought Kari, 'You'd better hurry, big brother.'

-----------------------

The second Tai got his sister's e-mail he and the others raced toward the forest. When they heard the noise of the battle they began to slow down. Tai told the others that their best bet would be a sneak attack. He was right. As their own Digimon had attacked the Flymon the others saw their chance and renewed their fight. Soon it was over. The Flymon retreated, all except for one. This one had been captured by Augumon, who had noticed it's attempt at escape and "pepper breathed" him into a nearby tree. The force of the blow had knocked it unconscious. When the Flymon woke up everyone was standing around him.

-----------------------

After looking for his digivice for quite a while, TK realized he was hungry. He decided that his digivice would have to wait. If he wanted to survive he was gonna have to find some food and fresh water. His stomach rumbled rather loudly and he soon saw how very hungry he was. Without his digivice he had no idea what time it is, or how long he'd been there. In actuality it had been a full ten hours since he got sucked into that other dimension.

With that in mind he began a new search. He didn't figure it would be very easy to find fresh water in the Dark Dimension, but he hoped it was at least possible. If not, he wouldn't even live long enough to "outlive his usefulness," was his rather bitter thought.

'Big brother,' he thought, 'I hope you're alright.' And then he took off in search of a meal.

------------------

Tai, Kari, Davis, Matt, Yolei and Cody stood around the campfire they had made at nightfall, looking very grim. Thoughts were going through their heads as they took in the information they had gathered from their Flymon prisoner.

"I can't believe we're fighting Lady Devimon and Skullsatamon again."

"I know Kari, but that's what Flymon said."

"Davis, are you sure it was okay to let him go?"

"He gave us the information we asked for, didn't he? Besides what was I gonna do, destroy him?"

"I guess you're right. As long as there is a chance he can be turned good, we can't destroy him."

There was silence in the group, and each Digidestined thought again about what the Flymon had said.

"I guess they must be working for Daemon again. They were the last time we fought them." This was the first thing Ken had said during their trip to the digital world and everyone noticed how strained his voice sounded.

"Darn!" Matt's hand slammed into the tree he had been leaning on. "My brother," his voice rose in anger, "My brother must be the kid Flymon said the "boss" is torturing. God, this is worse than thinking he's dead."

Flymon had told the Digidestined that "the boss" was torturing some kid. But since the kid still wouldn't talk, even when he was near death, Daemon had given him the sap of a wild digiflower. This flower's sap was supposed to induce a state in which the kid couldn't resist, but because of the kid's loyalty to his friends it wasn't working. Instead it was sucking out his life energy.

Ken's complexion turned gray when he heard Matt's last statement. "It's all my fault," he whispered. Nobody heard him except for Kari who had been standing next to him. But since she couldn't think of anything to say right then, she decided she would have to talk to him later. She sneaked a look at his face. What she saw their shook her to her core. For just a split second his eyes, normally filled with joy and kindness, held nothing but self-hatred.

'The power of the Dark Spore.' Was her only thought.


	5. Dispair

Hi guys and gals! Sorry for the wait, but I broke my finger. And while I love writing and feedback, I REFUSE to use the hunt and peck method to write a story, lol… thanks for understanding.

And now, without further ado:

CHAPTER 4 Chantramon

LAST TIME:

She sneaked a look at his face. What she saw their shook her to her core. For just a split second his eyes, normally filled with joy and kindness, held nothing but self-hatred.

'The power of the Dark Spore.' was her only thought.

NOW:

----------------------

The Flymon who had been 'caught' met with the rest of his brethren as soon as he was released.

"They're so predictable," one of them said, with snarl. "It was almost too easy."

"Just be glad that's true," said a newcomer. Every Flymon in the swarm turned to greet the demonic Digimon better known as Lady Devimon.

"Yes ma'am," was snapped by every one of them as they instantly came to attention before her.

"I trust everything went according to plan," she questioned condescendingly.

"Of course ma'am," the Flymon leader, who also happened to be the one who had been captured, said. "It happened just as you said it would. They never suspected."

"Excellent," was the reply. "You are all dismissed."

As the Flymon flew away in tight formation, Lady Devimon turned around and a mirror appeared in the air. The mirror was decorated ornately, made from what appeared to be solid Oak. The patterns swirled into loose circles around the oval mirror which looked antique. It was beautiful really – which is why it clashed so resoundingly with who appeared inside: Daemon.

"How is the plan," Daemon asked Lady Devimon. "Not too much for you to handle, is it?"

She was angered by the fact that would doubt her abilities, but knew better than to speak her mind, in his presence at least.

"No, master," she replied, expression schooled neutrally. She knew how to act subservient, even though she considered herself in too high a regard to ever believe she belonged there. So she slipped a sickeningly humble attitude into her act and simply continued, "Everything is perfect. The children are beginning to lose hope. Ken especially."

"Very good," he replied, after appearing to give that some thought. As his form began to waver, he through out one final thought. "But don't fail me again. I will not be so forgiving next time."

"Yes master," she couldn't help but snap.

As Daemon's form disappeared completely, Lady Devimon was left with her thoughts; and her seething anger.

--------------------------------

The Digidestined stood in a loose circle discussing what they had learned from the Flymon. Or at least some of them were discussing the situation. Matt and Ken stood opposite each other in the circle both with expressions of melancholy, though each for different reasons. Ken was tired. Not only was he still sore from his first encounter with Deamon, his discussion with his parents had also left him drained. Matt looked the same as he felt; defeated. His baby brother was – he didn't want to think about that. So, instead, he was twirling TK's ring in his hand, hoping he was all right, and trying _not_ to think.

It was nine o'clock and very dark by the time anybody realized it.

"I think we should go back," Davis said. "It's not going to do us, or TK, any good if we get lost. We can come back first thing tomorrow morning with a plan on what our next step should be."

Matt looked at Davis, he knew he was right, but he couldn't bear leaving his little brother alone. Seeing no other option, though he almost stubbornly stated that he would spend the night right where he was, he finally agreed that this was the best plan and reluctantly left the digital world. He was not looking forward to going home. He didn't want to face his family. All he had was more bad news.

----------------------------------

Later that evening at the Kamiya house, Tai and Kari were both having a difficult time sleeping, which ended up with both of them in the kitchen: Kari for a glass of warm milk and her brother for a snack. Tai took a good look at his sister. He saw and recognized that particular expression.

"Hey Kar, what's up?" He asked.

"Huh?" Kari was startled out of her thoughts. She didn't feel like discussing her feelings at that point. Instead, she moved to the cupboard and pulled out glass.

Tai noticed his sister's avoidance tactic for what it was and decided not to let her get away with it. He had a feeling she really needed to talk but just didn't know where to start. Plus, he knew if he gave her too much time to think he wasn't likely to get the whole story. So he persisted.

"Kari, tell me what's wrong."

Kari knew her brother well enough to know his stubbornness wasn't going to allow him to give up. So she decided to play it safe.

"I guess I'm just worried about TK."

"I already know that," Tai said quietly, "What else?" Taking his sister's surprised silence as an affirmation, he continued. "There is something else that's bothering you right now, please tell me about it."

There was silence for a few minutes. This time Tai was smart enough to know he needed to wait for his sister.

When she did finally speak Tai almost couldn't hear her. Her voice was low and she hadn't turned around yet.

"It's about Ken," she began. "Tai the darkness that covered him hasn't gone away, not completely. My crest is the crest of light and not even I could help him. I think Ken is really losing the battle." Kari turned around and Tai saw the tear tracks down her cheeks. "He's losing his hope, and I can't do anything about it."

"You have to trust Ken right now," Tai replied. "Sometimes there are certain things that each person has to deal with on their own. This may be one of those things."

"I know you're right, but it's so hard to sit back and watch him suffer."

Tai walked to his sister and wrapped her in a hug, letting her cry for a few minutes. When he looked at the clock, it was almost midnight.

"Kari, we need to get to sleep. We are just going to have to keep an eye on Ken and be there for him when he needs it. That's all we can do right now."

He hugged her just a bit tighter.

"Night Kari."

"Night big brother."

---------------------------

The next morning, at Ken's house, Cody, who had spent the night, was up before Ken. Cody laid in bed and went over the events of the previous day in his mind. There was something about the Flymon attack that just didn't sit right with him, not to mention TK's disappearance. Why was TK taken? Why had the Flymon attacked? What made that one Flymon talk? None of it made any sense, no matter how much he mulled it over. He was making himself crazy. The more he thought the less he understood.

"Argh," He accidentally said aloud. Ken woke up with a start.

"What happened, Cody," Ken asked with sleep slurred speech. "Are you all right?"

"I'm sorry," he answered. "I didn't mean to wake you up. Everything's fine. I was just thinking about yesterday."

"Oh," He said flatly. He could understand that, after all he had been dreaming about it all night or for at least the little bit of sleep he'd been able to get. "What about it?"

"Mmm," Cody began. He debated whether or not to say anything. He wanted too, but he feared that while Ken and TK would probably take him seriously, none of the others would. Since TK was missing and Ken already had enough of his own problems to deal with, he decided it might be best not to say anything.

"It's really nothing," He answered instead. "It's 6:45. Everyone'll be here in about forty-five minutes. Why don't we get cleaned up and have some breakfast."

Ken could tell Cody was keeping something from him. I guess he's gone back to not trusting me completely,' he thought with some surprise and a lot of disappointment.

--------------------------------

The rest of the group arrived at 7:30 sharp and before the clock struck 7:45 they were back in the Digital World. When they arrived, the digital world was eerily quiet and still. There was nothing, no buzzing, no hissing, no chirping, no wind; nothing. It was as though the digital world was somehow dying.

"Where's Augumon," Tai wondered allowed. "He was supposed to meet us here." Tai was worried. Augumon was never late unless something serious kept him away.

"He was supposed to bring Gabumon with him," Matt agreed.

"I know and that's what worries me. I think they knew something they couldn't tell us over the computer. I hope nothing's happened to them."

Cody looked at the two friends. After a small internal battle he spoke up hesitantly.

"Maybe we should try searching for them," he began. "We couldn't find anything to help TK yesterday. If they really do know something, then that's our best bet."

Everyone agreed and once again decided it would be a good idea to split up.

"Maybe we should split the teams," suggested Tai, remembering his sister's words the night before. "Maybe different sets of eyes'll see something new."

This was agreed on. Tai Kari, and Ken made up the first team; Matt, Davis, Cody and Yolei, the second. Tai's group set out for the forest since that was the last place he had spoken to Augumon from. Davis' group went to the mountains.

-------------------------------------

TK woke up with a start. He hadn't even remembered falling asleep.

'Dang,' he thought. 'Gonna be late for school.'

Slowly he opened one eye, only to have the other jerk open at the sight that greeted him. Then it all came back to him. He sat up and looked at his surroundings, and his heart sank farther. Once again his thoughts turned toward his parents and his brother. He knew that by now his parents new everything and must think he was dead.

No,' he thought as he sank to his knees. The same tears that had been stinging his eyes almost continuously pressed hard at him again and again he had to fight them; something that was getting harder and harder to do. He knew the only way to fight was to go on, so he got up and continued his search for fresh water and food.

Maybe I'll even find my digivice,' he thought, not really believing it. It was also beginning to bother him that he had no way of finding out what time it was.

--------------------------------------

Tai's group had been searching the forest for at least an hour with no results. But Tai was determined to not let it upset his team. So he kept up a light hearted banter with his sister, trying desperately to get Ken to join in. It seemed to work at least some of the time, and for that Tai was grateful. He had been watching him the whole time since they separated from the rest of the group and had the nagging suspicion Kari was right. So caught up in his thoughts was he that it took a moment for something that had been nibbling at his brain to register. When it did Tai stopped suddenly. So suddenly that Kari bumped into him.

"Wha-," she began only to cut herself off when she realized the reason.

It was the first sound they had heard since entering the Digital World that sounded normal. It sounded like laughter. All three of them hurried toward it. When they reached the origination of the sound they saw a clearing with a village of Oopomon playing in a pond. Startled out of their game, when the Oopomon saw the kids they scattered. Tai ran after them to tell them they weren't there to hurt them.

As Tai disappeared back into the forest, Kari and Ken sat down to wait for him realizing that if they went after the Oopomon they would probably only scare them more. As they waited, they sat on some rocks next to the pond. Kari looked at Ken. She saw just how upset he was. She also noticed the darkness around him was getting stronger. Ken, oblivious to Kari's gaze, sat looking into the pond.

---------------------------------------

Tai soon lost track of the Oopomon. He stopped running to look for some clue as to where they went when he heard something that made him forget all about them. A little ways away he noticed another clearing, this one enshrouded by foliage on all sides. As he snuck closer he heard two voices. He decided if he wanted to understand what they were saying he needed to be even closer so he continued on as silently as possible until he found a hiding spot where he could both see and hear what was going on. One of the Digimon had his back turned but still Tai couldn't shake the feeling that he knew him. The other one was Lady Devimon. They were talking about TK.

"That kid is too stubborn for his own good," Lady Devimon began. "He's killing himself by not cooperating."

"Yes," the other voice stated. "He will soon be out of our hair for good."

Tai started.

That voice,' he thought. 'It couldn't be.'

"What do you think Daemon will do if the kid doesn't talk?"

"Let's just say I'd hate to be either that kid or Ken."

"Speaking of Ken; how much longer?"

"Not much," the voice answered. "He will soon know real suffering."

At this both of the Digimon laughed and Tai almost lost it. He was about to jump out and ask them what they meant when the second Digimon turned around. Tai nearly choked in shock

No,' Tai tried to convince himself. He gave in when he realized it was impossible to deny the evidence right in front of him. 'I was right, Devimon.'

"Did you hear something?"

"Devimon, you are being paranoid."

"I guess you're right."

"Any way it's not like anyone could stop us. That kid is almost dead and Ken will be soon. We shouldn't worry about anything else."

They shared another peal of laughter before they left. When they had gone Tai was furious. His thoughts went immediately to Matt.

I sure am glad he didn't hear that.'

--------------------------------

Davis' group wasn't having much luck at first either. The air between them was strained. Matt was looking sick. He felt like they were wasting time and had been quite vocal about it. He felt nothing they did got them any closer to TK.

Just about the time they came to a waterfall the entire group was feeling discouraged.

"Why don't we stop for a second," Davis suggested. "I think a cool drink will do us all some good."

Matt only glared at Davis, but since the others seemed to need a break, he said nothing.

'It seems like Matt doesn't trust me to lead anymore,' Davis thought sadly to himself. 'Maybe it's just his brother.' But that thought seemed unlikely. If that was the case Davis didn't think he would have been on the receiving end of that strength of a glare.

Uncertain of what to do, Davis stood where he was for a second. Cody and Yolei took the cups they brought out of their packs and set about getting them all a drink while Matt went to sit down on a rock near a stream that rushed from the pool of water the waterfall cascaded into.

After absently swishing the water that had been given him by Cody, Davis looked over to Matt. He was about to walk over to him and discuss the situation, but stopped when he noticed the slight shaking of his shoulders. Instead Davis walked nearer the waterfall after quietly telling Yolei and Cody to let Matt be by himself a while. Yolei and Cody took their Digimon a little way down stream to swim and cool off for the rest of their day's journey.

Veemon, of course, went with Davis. But the nearer he got to the waterfall, the closer he wanted to be. Something about it didn't seem right, but right then it didn't seem to matter. He looked up at his Digidestined. He was about to say something, but found his voice wouldn't work. That's when Davis noticed something.

"Hey look Veemon," he said. "There's a passage on the other side of the waterfall. There must be a cave behind it."

Since Veemon didn't say anything, Davis took his silence as curiosity. He looked back and was about to call to the others but Yolei and Cody were too far away and Matt's head was now in his hands. So he decided to do his exploring with Veemon. It was rather easy to step behind the fall, easier than he had expected for sure.

"Wow," he practically breathed out upon entering the cave. It was majestic. The high ceiling and cave floors covered with stalactites and stalagmites. The further they got into the cave the more beautiful it became. Davis noticed this but he had a feeling that he really needed to keep moving, almost as if something was pulling him forward. When they reached the end of the tunnel they had been moving through, Davis saw the most beautiful place he had ever seen. It wasn't until he had stood admiring it for a couple of minutes that he noticed the last thing he had expected to see in the cave. There, almost at the end of the cavern, sitting next to an underground river were Augumon and Gabumon. The two of them just sat there staring at the water, not even talking. Davis tried calling out to them but neither Digimon seemed to hear him. As Davis got closer to the river he began to understand why. In the middle of the water there was a beautiful girl who seemed to be calling to all got near. Davis stared hard at her but for some reason he couldn't understand what she was saying. It was as if she were speaking another language. Davis wondered for a second why it wasn't really affecting him when he heard Veemon from behind him. Davis could hear the struggle In Veemon's voice as he struggled to speak.

"Davis," Veemon panted. "That's Chantramon, she -- " Veemon was really struggling now. "She has -- has the --"

It seemed to take the last remaining ounces of his strength to continue. "The power to control--"


	6. Chantramon

LAST TIME:

"Davis," Veemon panted. "That's Chantramon, she - " Veemon was really struggling now. "She has - has the -"

It seemed to take the last remaining ounces of his strength to continue. "The power to control-"

NOW:

That was the last thing Veemon could say before his body betrayed him and he started moving slowly forward. Davis was forced to watch as Veemon made his way toward Chantramon. Davis did not know who Chantramon was, but it was clear from the way Veemon tried to resist that she wasn't someone to be trifled with.

"Veemon, fight it," he tried to coax. "C'mon buddy. You gotta fight."

It looked for a second like Veemon might turn around – might be safe – but only his head turned as he looked back. What happened next made Davis' blood go cold. For a short moment it looked like he had gotten through to his partner, but then Veemon's eyes glazed a solid ice blue.

"If you know what's good for you," his digimon partner spoke menacingly, "you will run."

"I'm not leaving you Vee," Davis stated. "I'm going to save you."

As soon as he said that, Veemon shook his head. It looked as though he was trying to fight the spell he was under. His eyes flickered between their normal hue and the ice blue. In the end, Chantramon's pull was too strong, but not before he was able to give Davis one final piece of advice.

"Go get the others!"

"I'll be right back," Davis said with a nod as he ran as fast as his legs would take him.

Veemon joined Augumon and Gabumon in front of Chantramon.

"Ah, what power," she said, the resonation of her voice almost musical. "Soon I will have all I need. There is nothing more delicious than betrayal."

Davis made it back to his friends in no time at all, his fears propelling him forward. He just could _not_ lose someone else – especially not Vee.

"Yolei, Cody, Matt, I need your help," Davis yelled at the top of his lungs as he skidded to a halt near Yolei and Cody. Matt, who had managed to get himself under control, hurried over to the others. Davis looked directly at him first.

"I saw Gabumon; Augumon is in there too." While Davis was still speaking, Matt turned to go to his partner. Davis' hand on his shoulder stopped him. "They aren't alone. A digimon named Chantramon is there with them."

Matt noticed their looks. "Who is Chantramon?"

Hawkmon was the one who answered. "She is a digimon we thought only existed in stories. If what I've heard about her is true, I am surprised Veemon was able to resist at all."

Davis was getting worried. "What do you mean?"

"You know how things in the Digital World mostly got their start from things in your world, right" The kids nodded. "Well Chantramon is something like what you would call a Siren – beautiful beyond belief, with long jet black hair, and eyes as blue as the sea. She is supposed to wear a long blinding white gown and look like a human girl." He waited a moment for emphasis, "But as disarming as she looks, she is that dangerous. She sucks the energy out of any digimon she comes in contact with."

"And there's nothing we can do about it," Aquilamon added. "If we hear her voice, we would be mesmerized too."

"Veemon..." Davis turned to run back to the cave. 'I can't lose him,' he thought. He stopped when he heard Hawkmon yell to him.

"Davis, we can't help you."

"If I get them away from her, maybe out of the cave, do you think the hold she has over them would go away?" It was the only plan he could come up with on such short notice.

"I don't know," Aquilamon answered, "nobody has ever tried it."

"Although," Hawkmon interjected, "it is possible, since we have to hear her voice to come under her power."

"Well then," Matt started, "it's worth a shot!"

Davis sent Tai, Ken and Kari an e-mail telling him to meet them at the cave. And just that quickly all of the Digidestined were running at full speed to the place Davis had described.

~~~~~~~~

Ken and Kari sat at the water's edge, waiting for Tai to get back. Kari couldn't help but worry about Ken. He just seemed so alone. More often than not, he looked like he had the weight of the world on his shoulders. She wondered, not for the first time, if there was some way to let him know that all they were still there – that they wanted to help him through this. As Kari lost herself in her thoughts, Ken realized she was looking at him. He felt her gaze, even saw some of her sadness, but he kept looking at the water. He knew how hard losing TK was for her, he couldn't think of anything to say – what _could _ he say. Everything that happened to TK only happened because Daemon wanted the dark spore. 'Nothing,' he reflected, 'nothing I do will ever make that go away.' Finally, not being able to take his thoughts anymore, Ken decided to ask Kari what was wrong.

Kari hadn't been expecting that. "Huh? Oh nothing."

Ken looked away. He really couldn't blame her, after all, he couldn't really stand being with himself at the moment. This, of course wasn't what Kari was thinking. She was trying to figure out how to broach the topic of the darkness that grew with every new negative incident. A few more minutes passed until Kari got the nerve to respond.

"It's just that I'm worried."

"Your brother will be fine. You know Tai-"

"Not about him, about you."

"Why? I'm fine, really." 'Please don't worry about me, I don't deserve it.'

"Ken I've known you for three years. I know something's bothering you, something big."

Ken looked at her, surprised by the compassion in her voice. Maybe he _could_ confide in her. After all, wasn't she the barer of light? Maybe it could ease the darkness he felt stirring in his soul. It took him a little while – the battle inside of him raging between guilt and hope – but he did respond.

"It's just that I can't stand the thought that someone else is suffering because of me," Ken spurted. "I can't help but wonder if someone else is going to be taken. Maybe I should just give myself up. Let Daemon have me if that's what he wants. At least that way everyone would be safe."

Kari was shocked. _That… that was what he had been living with?_ How in the world was she supposed to get through to him? Everything was silent for a couple of seconds. Wormmon began to say something but Gatomon stopped him. She gave him a meaningful glance, gesturing toward Kari. Wormmon realized that Kari was just shocked. He also knew that, although he was Ken's partner, if anyone could help his friend, it was the bearer of light. He decided to give her some time. Ken, however, took the silence as an agreement and looked away from her; then he stood up. He was about to walk away when Kari reached for his arm and held him back

."Ken, what good would it do to give yourself up?" she reasoned, "I mean there is no guarantee that Daemon would give TK back. Even if he did, we don't know what purpose Daemon has for the dark spore. What if it makes him so powerful that he's unstoppable?"

Ken looked at her but didn't say anything. That was a good point. For her part, Kari wondered if anything she said was reaching him. When he sat down, though, she took that as a sign to continue.

"How do you think it would make your friends feel to know that we couldn't save you? For right now TK is still alive. I believe the reason he isn't talking is because he believes in the power of our friendship. He believes we are going to save him."

"Do you really think we will be able to save him?" he asked quietly. The lost look in his eyes betrayed the depths of his pain and Kari's heart went out to him.

"Yes, Ken," she answered without hesitating. "I know we will."

A slight smile started to show at the corners of Ken's eyes and mouth, but he looked away again. In a small voice he said, "What if we can't? What if he-" Ken's hands curled into fists on his lap.

"Ken, you can't give up, please," she begged him, "I know we will save him. We have to. We will." Kari's voice broke. Honestly, she was afraid of losing TK too. But, she knew that if Daemon was trying to take hope away, then hope is what she needed to believe in. That didn't stop a few tears from escaping, though.

Ken looked at her, surprised. "Kari, I'm sorry. You're right. I will try my hardest not to give up. We will find him." He put his hand over hers and she rested her head on his shoulder.

"TK, please be okay." She said it so quietly Ken almost wasn't sure she had said it all.

"He will be." Ken said it with such assurance in his voice that he almost believed it

That is when both of their D-terminals rang with Davis' message.

~~~~~~~~

Davis was the first to arrive where Chantramon held the digimon captive. He ran straight to Veemon.

"Vee, can you hear me?" When he received no answer, he looked at Veemon's eyes. The ice blue had darkened and was black around the edges. Somehow, he doubted that would bode well for him and his friends.

"Matt, I think we should back out of here," Davis suggested, "_slowly."_ He was already moving himself.

"Why?" Matt asked; looking at the digimon made him understand. He began to back away, too.  
But it was too late. Both boys only had time to gasp before their own digimon began to rush them.

"Howling blaster" The blast just missed Matt. Davis, who was standing behind him, wasn't so lucky. He would have been okay if Veemon hadn't attacked at the same time.  
"Vee head butt" knocked Davis into the path of Gabumon's attack. He tried to dodge it and was almost successful. However, it grazed his leg and left a fairly deep gash. Matt ran to the hurt boy and tried to help him up. He was kneeling next to Davis when Augumon attacked.  
His "Pepper breath" was aimed for Matt. Davis saw it and jumped up to push Matt out of the way, but he wasn't fast enough to get out of the way himself. The attack hit him in the stomach and sent him sprawling. Luckily for him, none of the digimon's attacks were at full strength because of Chantramon. She had been sucking out their energy. Using their attacks was bleeding all of the energy out of the digimon. Davis didn't have time to think about that right at the moment, however. He knew he was in trouble when he realized that he couldn't seem to stand up and for some reason, he couldn't breathe very well either. His mind was foggy and he felt paralyzed as he watched his world go black.

"Davis," Yolei screamed in a panic, "Davis, get up!"

There was no answer from the boy and Yolei ran to him, followed closely by Cody. They pulled him up onto the bank of the river. The reason Davis had felt like he couldn't breathe was because he had been lying face down in the water. Yolei put her hand in front of his mouth and was relieved to find that he was still breathing. Matt only saw all this out of the corner of his eye. He was busy with the digimon that were still in front of him. He noticed that Chantramon looked almost high off of the power she was getting from the fight. A plan formulated in his mind, as he realized that this might be the only time they would be able to get both their digimon and themselves out in one piece.

"Guys, we need to run out of the cave," Matt shouted to the others, "I think that the digimon will follow us."

"We can't," Cody answered, "Davis is out. There is no way for him to get out of here."

"Don't worry about it. I'll get him – when I give the signal, just run!"

"Okay" "Gotcha" Cody and Yolei answered respectively.

"GO!"

All of them ran out of the cave and Matt only took the time to bend down and pick up the unconscious Digidestined boy. When they got out of the cave, Matt turned to see and, as predicted, their digimon followed. Tai and the others had just arrived and were about to enter the cave when they saw Yolei and Cody run out followed closely by Matt holding the bleeding Davis.

"Davis!" Kari shouted and began to run towards them. Then she saw the digimon run out. She saw something the others did not. Black. Pitch Black. She was about to say something when, simultaneously all three of them dropped. Matt was shocked, but he could see all three of their chests rising and falling, so he knew they were safe. His first priority, he realized, needed to be the boy in his arms – who was looking paler every minute. Looking around, he noticed a nice cushy looking grass area. As he was worked on bandaging Davis, he told the others what had just occurred. It only took a few minutes for everyone to get caught up to speed. It was clear that all of them were worried about the four who were, at the moment, passed out.

"Chantramon, huh?" Tai said. "Well, does anybody know how we wake them up? What about Davis?" It was obvious that Tai was having a difficult time. Normally he could at least pretend to know how to handle the situation. He was the original leader of the Digidestined after all. This time the answers just weren't coming to him. When he noticed the looks that all of the others there were giving him, he knew he had to pull it together.

"Sorry. Okay," he began, "we know Chantramon was feeding off of their energy right? So, I think they will be okay. They just need to rebuild what she took from them."

"That makes…sense…" Davis, who had woken up just second before, said. Everyone turned toward his voice, glad to hear it.

"Davis!" Kari nearly squealed in delight, a grin spreading wide across her face.

"How are you feeling?" Tai asked.

"Veemon..." The word came out slowly. The pain Davis was feeling was evident in his voice. "Is Veemon okay?" His eyes brimmed with tears and he tried to sit up. Feeling a pain in his stomach he decided to lie back down. "Please, tell me if Veemon's okay. I couldn't bare it if..."

Kari, who was holding Davis' hand was about to say something when her crest and Davis' started to glow. They were beeping in unison and a light shot out of it. Just then Matt and Tai's started to glow too. All lights merged in the sky and light particles that looked like snow began to descend on the sleeping digimon. They woke up. Matt stood up, getting ready to protect Davis as the other boy had protected him. It was not necessary. The digimon were back to normal, though none of them remembered anything that had just happened.

"Davis!" Veemon shouted in a panic when he saw his best friend. He ran to him. "Davis, what happened? Who did this to you?"

Davis looked onto his digimon's eyes. He couldn't bear to tell him. "Don't worry, the digimon who did this are long gone. I'm just glad you're safe." It hadn't been a lie. As far as he was concerned, it hadn't been Veemon or Augumon or Gabumon who had done this. Because it wasn't their fault, they were being controlled.

Tai wisely changed the subject. "What happened to you guys?"

"I don't really know, Tai," Augumon answered. "We were on our way to meet you when we came across a waterfall. We heard someone calling out for help from the cave behind it. We knew it would probably be a trap, but if it wasn't we couldn't just leave. So we went in. That's the last thing I remember, until I woke up just now."

"Matt, what did happen to us?" asked Gabumon. "I have a feeling you're not telling us something,"

"It was Chantramon," Matt answered after a pause.

"CHANTRAMON?" The two digimon chorused. A thought went through all of the digimon who had been enchanted's heads. They stared at Davis. The others had taken off his shirt to properly dress his wounds. He had a bruised side, burn marks on his stomach and a gash in his leg.

"Davis, it was us, wasn't it?" Veemon was unusually quiet.

Matt saw the look in Davis' face and knew he wouldn't be able to answer.

"No, not really," Matt answered in his place. "It was Chantramon. You had no control."

Veemon could understand that, but he did wonder about one thing. "Davis, why did you lie to me," he asked.

"I didn't," Davis said in a rush, trying to make his partner understand. "I said the ones who did this were far away. They are! I don't think we'll ever see those three again."

"Davis..." Veemon looked at him, "Okay, what's next?"

"We should get Davis some help." Matt said this. He was beating himself up mentally for not having tried harder to protect the younger boy.

"No." Davis countered. "Matt, your brother is still missing. I'll be fine." He stood up to emphasize his point but ended up wincing because of the pain in his leg.

"Davis you are in no shape to be walking around the digital world," Matt came back with. "Look at yourself. You can't even stand up straight. You might have cracked ribs and I'd say that leg needs stitches." Matt's voice was heated, he seemed angry. But then his attitude softened, "It should have been me."

"Stop that! The only thing that really hurt was Augumon's attack. But that attack was aimed right at your head. It would have probably killed you. It's better a couple of cracked ribs then a dead Matt!" He said forcefully, but as quietly as possible, not wanting Augumon to hear it. Luckily Augumon and Tai were at the edge of the group, so they didn't hear a thing.

"That might be true. But you still need to see a doctor, whether you want to or not! I'm gonna call Joe and tell him to meet us at your house," Matt stated in a voiced that brokered no room for argument. "Hey guys, I'm gonna get Davis home. I want Joe to take a look at him – make sure everything is alright. You guys keep looking."

"You need help?" Tai asked.

"Nah, we'll be okay. Stay with the kids."

~~~~~~~~

TK had been walking around for a while (he wasn't sure how long exactly, dang he really wanted to know what time it was) and he realized that was _really_ getting hungry. He still hadn't found any sign of food anywhere. He was starting to wonder if he was going to starve to death before he managed to find a way out.

'But then,' he thought 'Even Daemon has to eat.' Thinking of Daemon made him shudder and, once again, the thought of his family nearly brought him to his knees. He forced himself to put one foot in front of the other though. "After all," he told himself aloud, "the only way to fix that is to make sure I get back to them safely."

So he kept looking. His stomach was loudly protesting by now and he couldn't take it anymore. He was about to try to take a nap to shut up his stomach when he stumbled over something. TK looked down and saw something that made him forget all about the noises coming out of his midriff. On the ground, right under his feet was his back pack.

'I guess it must have fallen off when I got sucked into this dimension.'

TK was just relieved to see something familiar. He looked inside and was relieved to find a couple of granola bars, a tin of almonds and four juice packs. Digging deeper he found the emergency kit he always took with him to the digital world. Call him crazy, but he never wanted to get stuck there again without some assistance, like he had when he was a little boy. He looked in the kit to see what was still in there. He found some rope, fishing line, three quarters of a box of matches, a flint, and a Swiss army knife. He looked in the outside pocket and saw two hand warmers and an emergency blanket.

'Perfect!' he thought to himself. 'This should help.' Then he looked in the secret pocket. 'Yes, it's still here.' He pulled out a dagger. He had bought it just a few weeks ago at a knife shop while shopping with his brother. TK knew it wasn't gonna protect him against Daemon, but he felt better just knowing it was there. He took his fishing line and found a stick and set out to catch his dinner. Or at least he assumed it was dinner... It was really beginning to bother him that he didn't know what time it was, or how long he had been there.

~~~~~~~~

After Davis and Matt left, Tai told the others about Devimon and what he and Lady Devimon had been talking about. The others were glad Matt had decided to take Davis for help. They discussed the situation, but nothing they came up with made any sense.

"We have to find him Tai," Kari told her big brother. "How do we find him?"

Tai hated disappointing his little sister, but, in this instance, he did not have any other choice. "I don't know, Kar. I don't know if we can right now. We need to continue trying to find out what Daemon is up to. TK is smart. He will be okay."

"I hope you're right brother."

"I wonder what they meant," Yolei wondered quietly, "when they said Ken didn't have much time either." Yolei had been looking at Ken almost the entire time. She couldn't stand the fact that she couldn't help TK. The thought that Ken might be given the same fate soon was making her angry. She looked into Ken's eyes and saw... nothing. She didn't know why but she had the feeling that he knew this was going to happen. Or maybe it was just that he was accepting it. Not knowing what else to do, she walked over to him and slipped her hand in his.

Tai also noticed the look on Ken's face. He had, after all, been watching all of the Digidestined as he told his story. He really hoped Ken would be alright. The kid had been through enough in his life – he sincerely didn't need more. He also noticed how Kari was looking at Ken. He wondered what the two of them had talked about when they had been alone before. He had a feeling it was important. He decided to ask his sister about it later.

~~~~~~~~

TK, being the fisherman he was (that hat was _not_ just a prop no matter what his brother or Yolei said), found a place to lower his fishing line in no time. It was in a cove near where he had found his back pack. Because of the way the water flowed, any fish that got in there would have a difficult time getting back out. It seemed perfect and much to his delight he had caught three good sized fish in only about thirty minutes, or this was his guess (what time was it anyway?). In no time flat he found enough wood to make a good sized fire. While he was waiting for the fire to become hot enough to cook with he ate half of one of his energy bars.

Thoughts of the last time he and Matt had gone camping together came unbidden to his remembrance. He smiled when he remembered Matt throwing a hissy fit when he couldn't catch any fish. He also remembered the way he had groused when their dinner that night had been fresh fish caught by his little brother. TK let out a small laugh at the memory.

He hoped Matt was doing okay. His parents too. The all too familiar feeling crept over TK's heart again. It hurt so badly every time he thought of his mother's tears and his father's agony. He was spared further pain when he smelled the fish and his mind was then occupied with getting his dinner ready. When TK cut open the first fish he noticed that the color was slightly off. He assumed it was because it was a Digital World fish. As he ate he assumed he must have been right, because the fish tasted normal

.  
Before he knew it he had finished off all three.

Before he knew it he began to feel fatigued.

Before he knew it he was fast asleep.


	7. Of Guilt and Relief

Before I start this, I just want to say kittyfinatic515, thank you for reviewing and showing interest in my story! That is what prompted me to finish writing the last chapter. I hope you liked it! And, now I am going to have to finish this fic .^_^.

LAST TIME:

Before he knew it he had finished off all three.

Before he knew it he began to feel fatigued.

Before he knew it he was fast asleep.

NOW:

The group who was still in the Digital World had no more luck that day, good or bad. And before they felt they had really begun, it was already time to go back home. So, tired and discouraged, they all met over at Davis' house to see how he was feeling. Joe had looked at Davis when they got back and told him he needed to have his ribs X-rayed. As such, with much griping on the part of the injured Digidestined, Matt took him to the hospital.

It hadn't taken long for them to be seen, as Matt was a celebrity. Normally using his status was something Matt would have hated doing, however, Davis was looking rather pale and the older boy was worried about him. By the time they left, it was discovered that Davis needed stitches for the gash in his leg and had bruised some ribs. It was also discovered that Matt had a bit of a fiery temper and he _really_ didn't like having people hang all over him when his friends were in trouble.

They arrived home about ten minutes before the other Digidestined showed up. Davis had just gotten comfortable on the sofa in his living room and Matt had gone to get him some juice to take his meds with when they appeared.

"Wow," the brunette remarked when he saw how dejected they all looked. "No news, I take it?"

"Nothing," answered Cody. "Absolutely nothing. How can it be that one of the most powerful Digimon is trying to be resurrected and nobody knows anything?" He asked rhetorically bringing his fist down on to his thigh in frustration.

"What about you Davis," Tai asked, "How are you feeling?"

"Fine," was the answer he received. Davis looked right at Veemon and smiled. "I just needed a couple of stitches, no big deal."

"Now tell them the rest," Matt interjected. "You know three bruised ribs and a slight concussion. Oh and what else? I think it was multiple contusions, was that it?"

"Like I said, no big deal! What's tomorrow's plan?"

"For you to stay behind!"

The rest of the Digidestined realized this must have been an argument already fought by the two from the exasperated way Matt was speaking and from the slight upturned chin that they had all come to realize was Davis' way of showing that he was going to be even more stubborn than usual. But all that was noticed in a split second as the argument continued.

"No way. Not Gonna Happen!"

"Doctor's orders, you stay in bed for at least twenty-four hours!"

"I feel fine." But the fight in his voice was gone and he looked tired. "Look, we can talk about this later. It's getting late, why don't you all just stay here. The boys can stay in here and the girls can stay in June's bed room. She's on a school trip and won't be back 'till the day after tomorrow."

As they all called their respective parents to obtain permission, Davis said his goodnights and went to his room with Veemon. Ken was the only one who had trouble getting his parents to let him stay, but, once Tai took the phone and explained that he couldn't be safer than with all of the Digidestined watching him, they finally relented.

That evening, or maybe it would be more correct to say that morning, once again Tai and Kari met in the kitchen. Tai had been thinking over the day and wanted to talk to Kari so he wasn't able to sleep. Kari had just gotten thirsty and needed some water. But they both ended up in the kitchen at the same time. Tai took it as a sign.

"Hey Kari," Tai began. "I was just curious what you thing is going on with Ken. Did you guys talk when I was gone?"  
"Yeah, a bit," Kari answered, looking worried. "I don't know. It just seems that he wants to give up. Tai I think we're gonna have to watch him."

This, coming from his sister -who usually saw everything on the bright side- scared him.

"What are you saying?" Tai asked his sister. "You think he'll do something stupid?"

At this point they gained an unnoticed visitor who sat listening intently to their conversation.

Kari, for her part, looked as though she was seriously considering Tai's question and all the possible ramifications of it.

"Not right away," she answered at length. "If he loses hope that TK is doing all right, then maybe. He wanted to give himself up. I think he thinks we blame him."

"That's ridiculous!" Tai forcefully intoned.

"How can it be his fault? He said himself if Daemon wanted him, he could take him at any time."

"I'm not sure he's thinking clearly."

"Obviously, but what can we do?"

"We need him to realize that he can have Hope," Kari answered, "even without its bearer present." Kari paused for a second as though formulating what she needed to say next. "We have to show him that he's not to blame. Even if we don't blame him, he still blames himself, Tai."

"That's not gonna be easy. He won't accept it if we just tell him."

"I know that. I think there's only one of us who can make him realize he's not the one at fault."

"Matt."

"Right."

Matt, the silent listener, gave a start. He knew that the brother and sister were still talking, but he was no longer listening. He was too shocked. He decided to go back to bed without the water he had wanted to get. In bed he began to think.

'Me? How can I help?' He turned over in his bed and put his hands over his ears, not that it helped. He just didn't want to think about anything. He couldn't make his mind stop, though.

'Why? TK, why did he take you? How much are you suffering? What information could you give him that he doesn't know?' That thought made him sit up on his bed. This was a new thought. What information would TK have that Daemon didn't? He lied back down attempting to make sense of that.

'What information does he want?' Try as he might he couldn't think of an answer. He thought that he'd have to ask Tai about it in the morning, see if he could figure it out. The morning... what was he supposed to do in the morning? He wondered how he could make Ken feel better when he felt like crap himself.

'That's it! If I try to act cheerfully, maybe Ken will know I don't blame him. Maybe he's been feeding off my negativity' A new plan forming in his mind, Matt fell into a fitful sleep.

The next morning all of the Digidestined except for Davis and Ken woke early. They were all already sitting around the table eating when Davis hobbled into the room. He looked awful. He was black and blue and winced when he walked.

"You are definitely staying home today!" Matt exclaimed.

Davis ignored him. "So when are we going?"

"Davis, _we_ aren't going anywhere," Matt said, clearly upset. "_You _aren't even supposed to be out of bed yet!"

"Matt, I'm going! I have to," Davis stated with resignation in his voice and stance.

Matt noticed the serious look on Davis' face. He decided to change his tactic. "Why do you have to go?"

Before answering Davis looked around to make sure the digimon were not around. Luckily they were still in the bedroom.

"Imagine what Veemon and the others would feel like if I had to stay home," he answered the older blonde. "At this point, I'd really like to stay here. I just can't. I'm sorry, but I am going!"

Matt knew he was defeated. "Okay, but promise me you'll let us know if you need to rest. If you promise that I won't make you stay behind."

"Okay, I promise."

"Davis," Tai interjected, "Do you still have your crutches from when you broke your leg last year?"

"Yeah, why?"

"If you're gonna insist on going, you'll need them. You can't even stand without wincing."

While Davis -with Tai's help- went to find his crutches, Ken came into the kitchen. Matt looked at the boy. He saw what the others were talking about. Ken looked worse than Davis had. His cheeks were sunken in. He had bad bags under his eyes. However, the most noticeable was his weight. He really hadn't noticed before, because he was worried about TK, but Ken had lost even more weight. Matt knew he hadn't been eating well, but this was ridiculous. He wondered if there was something else wrong with him. He knew his friend, though, well enough to know that is something physical was wrong, he would tell them. Matt smiled at him. Ken smiled back. It was a simple gesture, but it seemed to bring the younger boy's spirit up. Ken sat down next to Yolei and poured himself a bowl of cereal. He only finished half of it. Matt brought up the subject that had been brought up in his mind the previous night.

"Hey guys," he began, "Does anyone have any idea what information Daemon might want?"

"What do you mean," Yolei asked.

"It's just something I was thinking about last night," Matt answered her. "Devimon, Lady Devimon, and that Flymon all said he was trying to get some information from my brother. But what?"

"I don't know," Cody answered. "I can't think of anything new that has happened. So, what could it be?"

Ken thought for a moment. "Nothing, but he doesn't know that... or does he?"

Davis, who had just walked back in asked, "What do you mean?"

"Are you saying that Daemon might not be after any information?" Tai was shocked. It hadn't occurred to him, but what if Ken was right?

"If that's true, either he's not really torturing my brother or he is for sick pleasure." Matt looked grim. He was mad and showing it.

"It's my fault," Ken stated, hollowly. "Either way, it's my fault your brother is in trouble. I'm sorry Matt.

"It's not your fault, Ken," Matt told him. "You need to stop blaming yourself."

"You don't understand," Ken told Matt, desperation thick in his voice. "I think Daemon took him to make the dark spore start to grow again. So it's all my fault. I should have known you guys would be in danger. I should have just let him have me."

Matt stood up and walked around the table to Ken. He grabbed the shoulders of the younger boy. He noticed how small the boy in front of him seemed. Ken immediately looked down. The anger that had erupted in him when he heard how little Ken thought of himself fizzled instantly at the agony that was written over his features.

"Ken," he said with no reply. He tried again. "Ken, you need to understand something. Being Digidestined means that that we all take each other's problems as our own. We know that you would give yourself up for the sake of others, you've done it once before. What you need to realize is we willingly do the same for you. That's part of being Digidestined. It's part of being a member of a group. It's part of having friends. I don't want my brother to suffer. But I would feel awful if you were the one who was suffering, too. Do you understand?"

Ken's shoulders sagged in relief. "Yes, Matt, I understand,"he said as he over, into Matt's eyes. "What you said means a lot to me. Thanks a lot." Ken smiled, and again Matt smiled at this boy.

Now he knew what he could do to help. He had to keep that smile in his friends eyes. Somehow he had to keep Ken smiling.

"Okay guys," Davis started and Yolei grunted her disapproval, "and girls. Let's go find out how to get our friend back and put away Daemon once and for all!"

The kids all got up and walked, or hobbled in Davis' case, toward his computer. Yolei walked over to Ken and put her hand in his, giving it a small squeeze.

"Digiport open!" she yelled pointing her digivice toward the screen.

The Digidestined had been in the digital world almost all day, but nothing new turned up. Everyone was getting frustrated. Matt had been trying all day to keep Ken smiling. Sometimes it worked and sometimes it didn't, but now Matt was tired. They were about to give up for the day when Kari got a faint signal on her digivice.

"Hey guys, look at this!" Kari was in the back of the group so everyone stopped when they heard her voice. She showed them her digivice.

Tai was the first to respond. "What's this? It looks like the signal for a Digidestined."

"Teek?" Matt asked. For the first time in hours his lips curled up into a small smile.

"Matt," Tai started, "We need to be careful."

"What do you mean?"

"It might be TK... It also might be a trap."

Everyone was silent at that. Tai hated seeing the happiness leave his best friends eyes, but he had a bad feeling about this. Davis was tired and standing still was making him realize how bad he felt. He knew what Tai said was correct. He also knew that they couldn't do anything about it just standing here, worrying.

"Okay," Davis stated. "It might be a trap. But it could also be our friend! We _have _to go. You agree, right Kari?"

Kari nodded. She was so afraid that all her hopes were only going to be crushed again. Still, she couldn't help but hope against hope.

Davis noticed her nod and continued. "Let's put it to a vote, then. All in favor of rushing headlong into danger say aye."

There was a chorus of ayes all around and the group set off. Tai took up the rear. He still didn't feel right about this, but he knew he couldn't talk the others out of this. He didn't really think he should. He just knew something was going to happen – something was about to change.

As they walked, the signal got stronger. When they were almost there, they slowed. It was as though they suddenly realized they should be careful, just in case. The signal was pointing to a clearing in the middle of a group of trees. The group approached with caution. All of them were tense – wondering what they were going to find. Then they heard a voice.

"Oh no... who-?"


	8. TK the Second?

LAST TIME:

All of them were tense – wondering what they were going to find. Then they heard a voice.

"Oh no... who-?"

NOW:

Matt couldn't believe it, "That was TK's voice...TK!"

Forgetting all about the need for caution, Matt took off running at full speed to the voice he knew belonged to his little brother. He stopped short just after he passed the ring of trees that hedged a clearing. The familiar form of his brother greeted him when he arrived.

'He's alive!' he thought joyously – but something wasn't right. TK was standing in the center of the clearing, his back to Matt who was edging closer to get a better look. The closer he got the more he realized he had been right about what he thought he saw. It _was_ his brother, but his body was fluctuating. It was as if was being erased and then redrawn. But that didn't make any sense, 'My brother is human.'

.  
"TK!" Matt screamed to his brother, unsure of what to do. He ran forward, but just as he got close a bolt of black lightening shot out from TK's body and hit him. He was sent flying right into Tai, who had only been a step behind him. Matt was on his feet in a second and getting ready to rush in again when Tai grabbed his arm.

"Matt," Tai demanded, "What do you think you're doing?"

"I'm going to rescue my brother," Matt answered just as strongly. "Now, let me go!"

"What good do you think you are gonna do him by getting yourself blown back again?"

Matt was angry, the look in his eyes told Tai that. He also knew that his friend was right, this time. He knew that he needed to help his brother, but he also knew that getting himself hurt would not be the way to do it. He just couldn't stand the thought that his baby brother was mere feet away from where he was, but he couldn't even go to him.

"_This SUCKS!"_ Matt exploded in anger and frustration.

Yolei, Kari and Cody got there in time to see Matt's flight into Tai. Ken and Davis were a few seconds later then the first three because of Davis' injuries. They arrived in time to hear the tail end of the conversation.

"So what do we do, Tai?" Matt pleaded with his best friend. "I can't just stand here, I won't!"

An idea had been forming itself in Ken's mind. He wasn't sure if it was a good idea or not, after all, his brain wasn't as sharp as it usually was.

"Kari? What about the crest of light?" he asked quietly. "Do you think it could help him, like it helped me?"

"I don't know," she answered. "When you were in trouble it just sort of flowed out of me on its own. I don't know if it's possible to use that light on purpose."

"Please try." Matt's eyes were pleading with her. The amount of pain he was in was clearly etched in his body language. Then she looked over at TK. The voice they heard was clearly his, and he was standing right in front of her, so he must have found a way out of the Dark Ocean. He looked like he was still struggling. 'TK,' she thought. And suddenly, even though she still wasn't sure if she could do it, she knew that she needed to try.

"Okay." She took out her digivice and stared at it as if she had never seen it before. Then she closed her eyes and concentrated on TK. She didn't open her eyes when she heard the gasps of the rest of the Digidestined. She even kept them closed when the others began rushing forward. She never let her concentration wane. Suddenly all her strength was gone and she slumped to the ground, exhausted. Then she opened her eyes. What she saw made her smile more than she had in days. TK was asleep in his brother's arms – apparently safe.

"TK, please wake up," Matt pleaded with his little brother. "I just want to know you're okay."

It took a few seconds, but TK's eyes began to flutter open. Matt was ecstatic; his little brother was coming back to him. He had so many questions to ask, but he refrained. He didn't want to overwhelm him. One thing was for certain, 'Daemon is going to _pay_,' he thought.

Matt's smile began to fade when his brother looked up at him. The way his brother looked at him was as though he was looking through him. He didn't make eye contact. 'Is he in shock?' he wondered.

"TK, what's wrong?" he asked the younger boy, his voice laced with worry.

At first he got no response. Then TK jumped out of his brother's arms in fear. He tried backing up but fell over a root sticking up out of the ground. Matt was so stunned he couldn't even move.

"Please, don't hurt me anymore," TK pleaded. "I _swear_ I don't know what you want. Please. Please... No more." TK's voice was small. He sounded like he had just about given up, and that shocked Matt even more – shocked the other kids too.

"TK you're safe now," Kari told him. "Daemon can't hurt you anymore. You're with your friends." She didn't know what was going on, but she knew it couldn't be good. 'Why doesn't he calm down?' She thought frantically. 'Doesn't he realize Daemon's not here?'

"Look," put in Ken, "your brother's right in front of you." But TK wasn't listening to them at all. He looked even more panicked, if possible, then he had when he first woke up.

Matt snapped out of the stunned silence he had fallen into and stepped forward. He walked up to where TK was still sitting after having fallen and put his arms around the boy.

"TK, it's ok," he reasoned with his brother, "No one here wants to hurt you. Daemon's not here. You are safe now."

At first TK had struggled. But Matt's grip only tightened. Finally TK sagged into his arms and cried. He did feel safe here... But- It took a couple of minutes for the boy to compose himself. When he did, he figured he needed some answers.

"I'm sorry," he started. "I know – I mean... I didn't mean to make you guys worry. It's just that-" TK stopped, focus trained downward. It took him a moment to formulate what he wanted to say. "It's just that I feel so confused. I don't know what's going on here."

Matt looked at his brother. He was beginning to realize that something was seriously wrong with him. He wasn't acting at all like himself. He was so subdued, way too quiet. That just wasn't like him.

"Teeks," he asked, "what do you mean? You're safe, you know that. So please tell me what's wrong."

"I'm not sure I know how to," he answered. "I'm not totally sure of why, myself." TK took a deep breath. "Well for starters, I _do_ know I'm safe, - I just don't have any clue why." Everyone was shocked as he continued. "It sounds crazy, _I_ sound crazy, I just… it's just… Oh Man, I don't think I ever thought this would happen to me." He paused to take another deep, calming breath – stealing himself for what he had to say next. "I don't know... who I am."

Matt, who was still next to him felt TK's grip on his arm get tighter.

"You keep calling me TK, right? So you know me? You must… You know my... my name and you're trying to make me feel safe, and… It's just, I'm sorry, I can't remember you." Tears formed in his eyes again. "I am so sorry." He apologized again, attempting to force back the urge to cry by keeping his head down. "So, are you mad?"

Matt was the first to find his voice. He squeezed his brother's shoulder gently. He didn't want to scare him again.

"TK, why would we be mad?" he answered. "Me least of all; you are my brother and I love you. I always have and I always will."

.  
TK looked up, not focusing on anything in particular, his smile lit up his face.

"I can tell that you're my brother. I don't know how, but I can just tell."

"Do you remember anything, anything at all?" Yolei cut in a little impatiently. "We need to _get_ Daemon!"

Yolei was fuming. How dare Daemon wipe the memory of her friend? More importantly, how did he manage it?

"Hi." TK smiled again, a bit shyly. "I thought there were only three of you here. Who else is there?"

The entire group was silent.

"Can't you tell how many of us there are?" Tai asked for all of them.

"No, of course not," TK replied. "How can I if I don't hear you?"

"TK," Cody began, once he found his voice, "Can't you see us?"

It was TK's turn to become silent. He had been so busy wondering who he was it hadn't donned on him that his sight hadn't always been gone.

"So... I haven't always been blind?"

"Blind?" Cody choked. He was trying very hard to make himself understand. It wasn't working very well.

"Oh God," TK whispered. It was lucky he was still sitting on the ground. He looked like he would have fallen over if he hadn't been.

Kari's hand went to her mouth. She started to walk over to him, but stopped herself. She didn't know what their relationship had been before. Now she was even more confused. She looked at him. She knew that she needed to be there for him, so she got up the nerve to walk over to him and then she silently, quickly she sat next to him and slipped her hand into his.

Patamon had been too overcome with every emotion known to digimon kind to say anything before, but now he couldn't keep silent.

"TK, you mean you can't see?" he asked his partner, "Nothing at all?"

"No," he responded, his voice slightly higher than normal – a tell-tale sign of his distress.

Matt saw his brother begin to panic again.

"Ok, calm down everybody," he all but ordered. "Obviously Daemon's done something to his eyes. I'm sure once we defeat him, TK will be ok. And if not, it'll be okay. TK's really strong, right brother?" TK turned toward the sound of his brother's reassuring voice and gave a small nod. "So why don't we introduce ourselves? You know that I'm your brother. My name is Matt.

"I'm Gabumon."

"Tai."

"Hi, I'm Augumon."

"Davis."

"And Veemon."

"My name is Kari, I'm Tai's sister." He felt a small squeeze in his hand. For some reason it made him feel better.

"I'm Gatomon."

I'm Cody and this is Aquillamon.

"  
"How do ya doin?"

"I'm Yolei. Let me warn you, I talk before thinking all the time."

"You just did it again, Yolei. I am Hawkmon."

There was silence for a couple of seconds so TK assumed everyone had gone.

"It's nice to meet you all, again." TK grinned. "Wait a minute, I thought I heard another voice, who was that?"

Patamon looked crestfallen. Gatomon noticed and gave him a nudge.

"Oh, I'm Patamon."

"Wow another Mon?" he questioned. "That must be a big family."

There was silence in the group. Suddenly Yolei started laughing. Then, one by one, the others joined her. It was such a relief to them all after the tenseness of the past few days.

TK, however, didn't understand.

"I don't get it," he said "What's so funny?"

"I think we need to head home." Tai stated. "You and Davis both look about ready to fall asleep standing up. When we get there I'll tell you all about the last few years of our life with the digimon."

Later that night all of the digidestined gathered at Matt's house. The reunion with his parents had been an emotional one and both of them were so glad to see TK safe they didn't even say a word about anything else. They had all just finished dinner, which was take out, and were sitting around Matt's living room. Patamon was sitting on TK's head, completely elated. Kari was sitting next to him. Ken, who had gone to call his parents, returned. He was wondering why they hadn't answered, they were always home at this time of night. He decided to leave a message.

"TK, I know you lost your memory," Patamon said, "but don't you remember anything?"

"I'm sorry Patamon, but I can't. I am trying. I guess I'm not much help, huh?"

"It's okay," he said as he sighed happily from his perch.

"I wonder what happened to his digivice," Ken mused.

"I was wondering about that myself," Davis added. "I don't think Daemon has it though."

"What do you mean," questioned Cody. "Where is it then?"

"I'm not too sure about that," he answered, "But if he had it, I don't think it would have been possible for TK to escape on his own. And if he did, why wipe his memory? Wouldn't it make more sense for TK to remember that?"

"I think Davis might be right," TK affirmed. "I don't really remember how this works, but, if we knew he had it, wouldn't we want to get it back? And, if we could get in then couldn't he get that the same way?"

"He would have to time it just right," began Cody, "but it would be possible. I see what you mean."

"So," Matt started, "what do you think he _is_ planning?"

"I think I may know." Ken stated quietly. "I called Izzy while you were talking to your parents. I told him my theory and he said it sounded plausible."

All eyes turned to him; which made him nervous. He paused for a second to formulate his theory for the rest of them.

"Well it's been three years since we heard anything from him at all, right? When he tried to take me at the picnic, Kari, your light broke through and saved my life. Ever since then we started seeing the affects of Daemon in the Digital World. What if your light weakened the block between the dimensions? If I'm right, we'll see more of him then even before. My hypothesis is that every time you use the power of your light to save us, the barrier will wane even more."

"So do you think he _let_ me go?" asked TK. "Was he trying to get Kari to use the light?"

"That I don't know," replied Ken. "I am not even sure I'm right."

It was a sobering thought for all of the Digidestined. If Ken was right, then Daemon had been a step ahead of them the whole time. That shook Kari to her core. How was she supposed to help her friends if her help was what got them in trouble to begin with?

"Well, what's the next step," questioned Davis. "What else can we do?"

"Well," Matt started slightly apprehensively. He knew neither his brother nor Davis was going to like his next statement. "I think you and TK need to stay here."

"What," exclaimed TK.

"No way!" Davis seconded.

"Guys, the two of you need a day off," Matt answered placatingly. "Davis your gonna hurt yourself even worse then you already are. And you," he pointed at his brother, and blushed when he realized what he'd done, "need time to get used to the idea of being blind."

Matt could see he had the attention of the boys in question so he continued.

"So tomorrow Davis rests – no buts Davis! TK you see if you can do everything by yourself tomorrow. If you need help Patamon will be with you. But Patamon, only if he NEEDS help, got it?"

"Sure," Patamon agreed. "TK, I think your brother's right. If you don't have your digivice, I can't digivolve to protect you. You need to know that you can rely on yourself."

"I give up," he said as he raised his hands in mock surrender, "I'll stay here tomorrow."

"No, TK, not home. It has to be someplace where you don't know everything all ready," he stated. Then, when he saw that TK was about to interject, he added, "Even if you don't remember it, your subconscious might."

"How about he comes to my house?"

"That was just what I was thinking, Davis."

So, all of their plans being settled, the Digidestined divided up between the living room and TK's bedroom for a well deserved rest.

DIGIMONDIGIMONDIGIMON

TK woke up to find himself by the Ocean where he had fallen asleep, but without his backpack, and therefore, without supplies.

"Just great," he said out loud. "What do you _want_ Daemon?'

There was, of course, no answer. TK figured that Daemon was just toying with him. He sat for a few minutes trying to figure out what he could possibly do, or what Daemon's plan was. Nothing new hit him so his thoughts traveled elsewhere.

'Hmm, I wonder how long I've been out,' He thought silently to himself. He got up and tried to remember what had happened just before he fell asleep. But he couldn't. 'What is going on?' He decided to get up and check things out. All he really knew, he realized, was that he'd been very hungry. He caught a couple of fish and ate them – nothing out of the ordinary there. But then, why had he fallen asleep?


End file.
